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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

She doesn’t just play, she kills it.Talented rock guitarist Beth Collins has been barely holding herself together for months, ever since her boyfriend and bandmate became the latest victim in a string of suspicious disappearances. When her brother is injured an accident and she sees something dark billowing around him as he hovers close to death, she’s convinced her sanity is collapsing for good. Then she's accepted by a boarding school for the musically gifted. All of her new friends are bursting with talent, but they're also keeping secrets. Can she trust Vincent, who's so sweet that his very touch makes her fears melt away? Or Xavier, who's trying to tell her something but is hiding even more?And will anyone be safe when her true Talent comes out?

Lisa Amowitz was born in Queens and raised in the wilds of Long Island, New York where she climbed trees, thought small creatures lived under rocks and studied ant hills. And drew. A lot.

Lisa has been a professor of graphic design at Bronx Community College where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly eighteen years. She started writing eight years ago because she wanted something to illustrate, but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark and twisted for small children.

BREAKING GLASS which was released July 9, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her first published work. VISION, the first book in the Finder Series, released September 9, 2014 and its unnamed sequel will release winter, 2016. UNTIL BETH, a YA urban fantasy, will release September 2015.

So stay tuned because Lisa is very hyper and has to create stuff to stay alive.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Spending senior year with the father who abandoned her is the last thing seventeen-year-old Esme wanted. But when her guardian grandmother dies, she has no choice. The only thing she has left of her once happy life is her grandmother’s antique vase—until she discovers it comes with a bowler-hatted genie. Jin guarantees he’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy again.

Esme soon realizes hiding a genie isn’t easy, so she gives Jin a modern makeover and stashes him in the school library. One tiny hiccup—her dad’s the principal. When word spreads that Esme is spending all her free time with a cute British guy, she’s busted, and her dad uses his all-powerful parental authority to ground her. If that's not enough, she learns her father plans to marry a woman who could win evil-stepmother-of-the-year, and her daughter is the top mean girl at Esme's new high school.

Esme hopes to turn her luck around now that she has a genie to help her deal with her problems. But she realizes ten wishes aren’t so awesome after all, when she finds out they are powered by Victorian-era magic. And she thought having a genie would be fun.

About The Author:

Karin De Havin is a historian, turned writer. Karin writes Young Adult fantasies as well as New Adult contemporary stories from her timber frame home in the Pacific Northwest. She lives with a pair of tuxedo cats that like to help her write by jumping on the keyboard, and her pianist husband who occasionally is known to wear a tuxedo and tinker with the keyboard too.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Forget everything you thought you knew about genies!Azra has just turned sixteen, and overnight her body lengthens, her olive skin deepens, and her eyes glisten gold thanks to the brand-new silver bangle that locks around her wrist. As she always knew it would, her Jinn ancestry brings not just magical powers but the reality of a life of servitude, as her wish granting is controlled by a remote ruling class of Jinn known as the Afrit. To the humans she lives among, she’s just the girl working at the snack bar at the beach, navigating the fryer and her first crush. But behind closed doors, she’s learning how to harness her powers and fulfill the obligations of her destiny. Mentored by her mother and her Zar “sisters”, Azra discovers she may not be quite like the rest of her circle of female Jinn . . . and that her powers could endanger them all. As Azra uncovers the darker world of becoming Jinn, she realizes when genies and wishes are involved, there’s always a trick.

My Rating

4

My Review

If you are searching for a unique and delicious YA novel that will have you neglecting little aspects of your life because you just need to read that next page, then look no further. Becoming Jinn has a fantastical situation with realistic characters and a contemporary setting. It is a nonstop ride with everything from moments that will make you laugh out loud in a quiet, public area to moments that will have your heart melting (or something equally swoon-y). I could not put down Becoming Jinn, and even though I know the book didn't even release yet, I can't help but really, really, really want the second book.

From the very first chapter, I found that I was able to connect to Azra and really get into her head. Aside from being smart and funny, she felt like a person. An actual teenager. That voice made it so much easier to stay in the world of the novel. As the novel progressed, I found that all of her actions and decisions were realistic and understandable for her character. Without it being forced onto me, I was really able to root for Azra throughout the story.

If there is anything better about Becoming Jinn than Azra's character, it is the relationship she has with other characters. I loved the friendship and sisterhood that went along with her Zar, especially because it wasn't perfect. Azra, at times, felt like an outsider, even in a place where she really is supposed to belong (and does, even if it is harder to see) and that's something most everyone can relate to. The relationships between the "sisters" were dynamic, as every character had their unique personality, and a different relationship with everyone else. It wasn't all bright and sunny, and to me, that made it all the more believable.

I like to tell myself that I'm sick of love triangles (V's) in YA, and then I continuously find ones that are done beautifully and can't get enough of it. The love triangle in Becoming Jinn was definitely one of those cases. It was difficult, because I liked both options. But I definitely feel that one of the two characters was all the more better, and am one hundred percent on that team. I'm not going to say who it is, but... cough-I-love-the-whole-"boy-next-door"-trope-oh-so-much-cough.

Not only are the characters amazing and the writing breathtaking, but the concept is incredibly cool. And the plot doesn't disappoint. I loved the Jinn and learning about their history and origin (man, do I adore a good backstory!). Everything about the rules of wish-granting and the Afrit made it feel all the more real, and added a whole lot of stakes that kept the pages turning.

Becoming Jinn is a hilarious, heart-wrenching, striking start to a promising series. It's difficult to say anything negative about it at all, other than how it might keep you up way later than you wanted on a work/school night. A definite must-read that will have readers wishing for more.